Harvesting systems are commonly employed to harvest produce from plants that are arranged in generally parallel rows and which support produce above the ground. The produce from these plants will be generally referred to in this application as the "fruit" of the plant, although certain produce harvested by the machines and methods of the present invention may not technically be considered a fruit.
These crops typically have a vertically free-standing or supported bush, tree, or vine from which the fruit is suspended. When ripened, the fruit can easily be dislodged from the plant by beating the plant. Crops typically harvested with the harvesting systems and methods of the present invention include grapes, coffee beans, raspberries, and the like. The present invention is of particular importance as applied to a harvesting system for grapes, and that application will be discussed in detail herein; but the present invention may have broader application to other crops having similar characteristics. The scope of the present invention should thus be determined with reference to the claims appended hereto and not the following detailed description.
Harvesting systems for this type of plant typically comprise a carriage system, a motor system, a fuel system, a shaker system, and a collecting system. The carriage system provides a movable structure that supports the shaker system. The shaker system comprises two portions that define a shaker area. The collecting system is supported on the carriage system to define a collecting area spaced below the shaker area. The carriage system moves or is moved along a row of plants such that the shaker system can beat the plant to cause ripe fruit to fall. As the carriage system moves along the row, the collecting system is disposed under the plants such that it catches the falling fruit. The collecting area is elongate, with the length of the collecting area being determined by the speed at which the carriage system moves along the plants and the expected time it will take most if not all of the fruit to fall.
The carriage system of conventional harvesting systems comprises a frame, front and rear axles mounted on the frame, and two wheels mounted on each axle. The motor system is mounted on the frame and operatively connected to the rear wheels. The fuel system is also mounted on the frame and is operatively connected to the motor system. The motor turns the rear wheels to propel the carriage system, and the front two wheels are movable to allow the carriage system to be turned.
The elongate collecting area is symmetrically aligned on either side of and parallel to the row as the harvesting system begins harvesting the row. If the collecting area is not properly aligned with the row, the plants may be damaged and/or the fruits may not be properly dislodged from the plant and collected. The collecting system comprises storage bins in which collected fruit is stored; these storage bins are emptied when full or when harvesting is complete.
In a field, each row of plants is separated from adjacent rows by a what will be referred to herein as a row path. The field is typically divided into field portions that are separated by what will be referred to herein as field paths. Field paths extend along the edges of the field portions perpendicular to the row paths. The field paths define the space in which the operator must maneuver the harvesting system to align the harvesting area with a given row immediately prior to harvesting that given row.
More specifically, any given field path has a width dimension that is parallel to the row paths terminating in the given field path. This width dimension defines the amount of room in which the harvesting system may maneuver when leaving one row and turning one hundred and eighty degrees to another row and should, at a minimum, be longer than an effective length of the harvesting system.
Crop owners find it cost-effective to plant crops as densely as possible. The area taken up by field and row paths is thus typically minimized to maximize crop density. But minimizing the field and row paths reduces the area in which the operator may maneuver the harvesting system to align the collecting area with the next row to be harvested. The operator may maneuver the harvesting system into proper alignment with the rows by moving back and forth, but excessive maneuvering can significantly slow down the harvesting operation.
Accordingly, with conventional harvesting systems, a crop owner must layout the crops in a manner that represents a compromise between increasing crop density and decreasing harvest times. The need thus exists for harvesting systems that provide the crop owner with more flexibility to optimize both crop density and harvest times.